


sailing

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 14:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15051614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: In which Nick visits Ellie, meets her mom and gets invited to dinner. Which isn't even the best part of the evening.





	sailing

**Author's Note:**

> A two-fer here, for two bingo cards. 
> 
> Gen prompt bingo round 14 - home cooking
> 
> One million words June bingo - cooking or baking, holding hands for the first time.

"You're not Bishop."

Nick knows it's a ridiculous thing to say the second the words leave his lips and not because the woman who answered Ellie's door responds with a blink and a smirk that is very, very familiar. 

"I am, actually," the woman informs him, in a tone that also manages to be familiar, for all he's never heard her voice before and it makes perfect sense because the woman standing in front of him looks exactly how he imagines Ellie will look in another twenty-five or thirty years, right down to the twinkle in her eye and the curve of her lips when she's messing with him. Not that he's thought about that. Much. "Barbara Bishop." 

Nick doesn't blink. "Younger sister?" he tries because it never hurts to dial the charm all the way up to eleven when meeting the parents. 

Barbara laughs as she steps back to let him in. "Oh, you're good," she says, but she's stopped from saying anything else by a groan from further inside the apartment. 

"God, Mom, don't encourage him." 

Nick knows his head snaps in the direction of Ellie's voice which Barbara couldn't possibly have missed and he's very glad that she can't see the way his heart literally sped up in his chest. Although from the way she narrows her eyes ever so slightly, maybe she can. Ellie’s good at reading people, he’s sat beside her in enough interrogations to know that and he’s always thought it was Gibbs thing, that she’d learned her lessons well from him. Maybe it’s not, maybe it’s a Bishop Women thing, and Nick pushes the thought away, it being too terrifying for words. 

With very little pause, Barbara extends her hand in the direction of Ellie's voice, wordlessly inviting him in. "Don't feel like you have to listen to her," she says as he steps over the threshold and Nick doesn't have to think about his reply to that. 

"Never do," he says and that’s greeted by a knowing chuckle from Ellie. 

"Don't I know it," she says, pushing herself up off the couch and standing stiffly, her hand going to her left side. Just like that, Nick gets a flash of memory, a grunt of pain and her doubled over, holding her side as blood seeped through her NCIS jacket, through her fingers, her already pale skin turning ashy grey as she slumped to the ground before he could get to her. He may have revisited that in his dreams over the last few days. He's used to getting very little sleep; it's been scarcer than ever since Ellie got hurt. 

"Don't get up," Nick says, holding out a hand as if that was ever going to stop her and Barbara is stepping towards her quickly, her hands out as if to help her. 

Ellie stops them both with a glare. "I won't break, you guys." She sounds exasperated, impatient and that puts Nick on more solid ground. It’s a feeling which promptly evaporates when Ellie says, "Get over here, you," and the next thing he knows he’s met her more than halfway and she's pulling him into a hug that would put Abby to shame. 

He thinks he holds on a little too long, or she does, but he's not complaining either way. 

When she finally pulls back, or when he lets her go, whichever, she turns to her mom and he absolutely does not notice that her cheeks are pink. "Mom, this is Nick." 

"I figured." So the smirk definitely is a Bishop Women thing, Nick decides. 

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs Bishop." Nick holds out his hand to her and she accepts it with a shake of her head. Her grip is firm, strong, like her daughter’s. 

"Barbara, please. Mrs Bishop was my mother in law. And let me tell you..." She stops herself, holds up both hands. "But you don't want to hear about that." 

"Mom came up to take care of me." Nick can hear the steel below the statement and Barbara probably can too but she doesn't comment on it. Instead she just inclines her head towards the kitchen. 

"And make sure she eats," she says which Nick initially wants to laugh at because Ellie? Not eat? Seriously? Except he glances at Ellie and she's looking down and biting her lip, looking every inch the sulky teenager he’s fairly sure she never was. His stomach flips uneasily at the conclusion he reaches and he struggles not to shift uncomfortably on his feet. "We're having lasagne," Barbara continues, like there's nothing weird going on at all. "Would you like to join us?"

He actually would because he wants to see Ellie and the lasagne smells incredible but he also doesn't want to intrude. "I couldn't impose-" he begins, but Barbara doesn't let him finish. 

"It's no imposition," she says. "Just one less portion for Ellie's freezer." Her smile is bright as she claps her hands, her eyes moving between Nick and Ellie. "Why don't I leave you two to talk?" 

With that, she's gone, leaving him and Ellie standing face to face. She gives him a tiny smile as she looks up at him and something that he can't exactly name - or can, but just doesn't want to - tugs at his heart. "Hurricane Mom," she says and he chuckles, lets his hand fall to her shoulder. 

"Must be a Bishop thing," he says and she laughs softly at that, rolls her eyes too. "You sure you don't mind me staying?"

Ellie shakes her head. "As long as you stop flirting with my mom," she orders and he removes his hand from her shoulder to press it to his chest in almost Victorian shock. 

"I would never-" he begins but a raise of her eyebrow stops him cold. "OK, I promise to not to lay any more of the famous Torres charm on your mother. Even if it gets me extra helpings of home cooking." He stops, tilts his head theatrically. "Actually... would it get me extra helpings? Because it smells amazing..."

She actually giggles at that, swats at his chest with her hand and he can't help himself. He catches her hand in his and holds it, runs his thumb along her knuckles. Her breath hitches audibly and it's easier suddenly to keep his eyes fixed on her hand in his rather than her face. He’s never held her hand like this before, has never held her hand at all but this feels right, like there was nothing else he could have done or should be doing right now. Probably half the people they know at NCIS wouldn’t believe him about the hand holding thing; Nick’s not stupid, he’s heard the rumours, seen the second glances. There are a lot of people convinced that he and Ellie are involved but they’re wrong. Rule 12 is a real thing and he and Ellie have never crossed that line. 

He will admit, though, that they’ve been skirting it for a long time now. 

He’s pretty sure they've just sailed right over it. 

He’s pretty sure they sailed over it a long time ago and just didn’t notice. 

"I'm sorry I didn't come to visit you sooner," he tells her quietly. He presses his lips together, another flash of memory assaulting him, this time a long ago antiseptic smell, a sterile room, white linen with dark hair falling across it. He pushes the memory away, continues, "I'm not good with hospitals." 

"It's ok." Ellie's voice is as quiet as his and he wonders if that's because of the conversation or the fact that they’re still holding hands or the fact that her mom is in the next room. "I'm sorry I scared you." 

It's on the tip of his tongue to deny it but he knows he can't, knows his fear was written all over his face the second she hit the ground, the second he got over to her and took her in his arms, the second he looked into Gibbs's face as he crouched on the other side of her and saw equal fear there. That was what really freaked him out, to be honest, made it all real, Gibbs being scared. 

So instead, he shakes his head. "I swear, if you ever do that to me again..." He can't even finish the threat, doesn't want to think about it and Ellie sighs as she takes a step towards him, slips her free arm around his waist and lets her cheek fall to his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her waist, lets their still joined hands fall to his side and he closes his eyes, breathes deeply because for the first time in a week, he can. 

"I'll make it up to you," he hears her say and oh, there are a hundred ways at least that he could respond to that promise, ways that would make her eyes flash fire and her jaw set and give him hours of entertainment across the bullpen. 

He doesn't say any of them. Instead he tells her, "Lasagne's a pretty good start." 

She laughs at that but only for a second. Then she breathes in sharply, her hand leaving his and moving to her side. He's putting space between them instantly, looking down at her and about to call for her mother when she looks back up at him and says, "I'm fine... just shouldn't be standing for too long." 

"Well, why didn't you say so?" He does not scoop her up and deposit her on the couch but it's a close run thing. Instead, he lets her go, feeling the loss of her immediately and no, he's not going to think about that either, and lets her sit down. He stands and looks at her for a long moment and then she's looking up at him like she's waiting for something. It's a full five seconds before she tilts her head and gives him a mildly exasperated look before she pats the seat beside her. 

Oh. Well then. 

He sits down, leaves a nice tract of space between them because, you know. The line that he's fairly sure they've already crossed. Except his gentlemanliness is greeted by a huff of either impatience or disgust or both and she shifts across so that her knee is touching his. 

And then she reaches out and covers his hand with hers and yeah, Nick knows there's no going back over the line. 

Which is faintly ridiculous because they've never even kissed, except for as part of that undercover mission, and yeah, that had been hot enough. Ellie's a good kisser, OK, and yes, he's thought about that a few times in his dreams as well. 

He takes a deep breath and disentangles his hand from hers. 

Disappointment and hurt flit across her face but both disappear quickly when he moves the hand she was holding, stretching it around her shoulders and pulling her against him so that her head can rest against his chest. He moves his other hand then, laces his fingers with hers and Ellie lets out a long slow breath. 

He reaches up with the hand that's around her shoulders, lets his fingers tangle in her hair and she lets out another one. 

"You know we're gonna have to talk about this, right?" 

Strangely, he's the one that says it, feels her nod without lifting her head. 

"I know." She sounds almost sleepy. "But not tonight. Tonight, can we just..." 

Mindful of her mother in the next room, giving them a wide berth and Nick knew he'd like that woman, he turns his head, brushes his lips across her forehead. "We can do whatever you like," he promises and he sees her lips curl up in a soft smile. 

"I'm going to hold you to that," she says and man, right at that moment, Nick knows he's in a world of trouble with this woman. 

But he's had a chance to think about the alternative and he knows he wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
